'Fulling', the half-hectare property at Pitt Street, Eltham was the home of landscape designer Gordon Ford and his wife Gwen. Ford bought the property in 1948, originally part of an orchard. The garden encapsulates the major trends of Australian garden design in the second half of the 20th century. The garden design is based on mass (plants) and void (paths and pools), textures and forms. It epitomises the Eltham style because of its relaxed informality and attraction to native wildlife. The mud brick house and designed and built by Ford commenced in 1948. Several extensions were added up to 1970 and were built by Graham Rose (Source: information panel for exhibition, n.d.) Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p147 A narrow timber gate opens onto a garden that has had a huge impact on natural garden development in Australia since the 1950s.1 Fulling, the half-hectare property at Pitt St, Eltham, was the home of the landscape designer, Gordon Ford, who died in 1999. The garden ‘encapsulates the major trends of Australian garden design in the second half of the 20th century...and epitomises the Eltham style of garden’.2 It in turn, was influenced by several Victorian major landscape designers of the mid 20th century – Ellis Stones, Peter Glass and Edna Walling. The gate opens onto a sandy gravel path, one of several, which wind around dramatic pools and what appear to be natural bush, but on close inspection are carefully integrated native, indigenous and exotic plantings. Retaining walls and steps of rock through the garden link different terrace levels. Lichen-covered boulders serve as steps across a pool, leading to the triple level mud-brick house. Ford bought the property, which was originally part of an orchard, in 1948. As the son of a Presbyterian minister, Ford received a good education, which included learning Latin. This was advantageous when he worked in plant sales for the Forestry Commission, before the Second World War. In the late 1940s, however, Ford turned to building and landscape gardening. He worked on the Busst house, an early mud-brick building designed by Alistair Knox and at the same time, Ford was employed by Ellis Stones. Knox described Ford as, ‘one of the funniest men of the district. ...Rocky’s (Ellis Stones) Depression stories and Gordon’s memory and quick tongue made the jobs the most enjoyable of all those hysterical times that made Eltham the centre of the eternal laugh, between the years of 1945 and 1950’.3 Ford’s house, like so many after the war, was built progressively, as more space was needed and formerly scarce materials became available. It began with an army-shed of timber-lined walls, now used as the kitchen. Ford then built what is now the lounge room, and the house grew ‘like topsy and on a shoestring,’ says his widow Gwen. A lot of second-hand materials such as window frames were used, a style made famous particularly with their extensive use at Montsalvat, the Eltham Artists’ Colony. The house was constructed as a joint venture with friends, including artist Clifton Pugh, who built Ford’s bedroom for £10. The polished floorboards and solomite (compressed straw) ceilings, interspersed with heavy beams, exude warmth. The result is a home of snug spaces, with soft light and garden vistas. Several other mud-brick buildings were constructed as needed, including a studio and units for bed-and-breakfast clients. The garden, which has been part of the Open Garden Scheme since the mid 1980s, is based on a balance of mass (plants) and void (paths and pools), textures and forms. It epitomises the Eltham style because of its relaxed informal ethos and attracts native animals. Wattlebirds, scrub wrens, pardalotes, currawongs, owls and even kangaroos, have been seen at Fulling. Gwen, a former English teacher who has worked on the garden since around 1970, urged and helped Ford write his book, The Natural Australian Garden.4 Several of Ford’s favourite trees are in the garden, including the native Casuarina or She-Oak. In spring, the garden is dusted with the purple Orthrosanthus multiflorus or blue native irises and rings with the calls of birds attracted to plants like the callistemons, correas and grevilleas.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, eltham, fulling, gordon ford garden, pitt street, eltham mud brick buildings, mud brick house

Newspaper article: A sustainable award, Diamond Valley Leader, 1 November2006, Architect and building Llewellyn Pritchard won resource Efficiency Housing Award, finalist in HIA Greensmart Building of the Year Award. House – Environmental Leader (Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p186) In 2006 environmental awareness was mushrooming in the community, which is reflected in the award-winning house at Main Road near Wattletree Road, Eltham. At first sight, the building appears a mix of a classic Eltham mud-brick house and an avant-garde building style. The crown of solar panels stretching along the width of the curved roof, indicates that this is no ordinary house. In fact it signals a new building trend of minimal impact on the environment. Yet it utilises the environment with high technical expertise to achieve comfort and cut running and maintenance costs. In recognition of this, its designer/builder, Conscious Homes, won the 2006 National HIA Greensmart Resource Efficiency Award. For Conscious Homes director, Llewellyn Pritchard, this house reflects a philosophy, strengthened by his connection with Aboriginal culture, through his foster siblings. Pritchard believes the sustainable way indigenous Australians lived and their spiritual connection with land, demonstrates how humanity is part of the ecology. His interest in environmental design stemmed from growing up in bushy Eltham Shire, with its mud-brick tradition. This was followed by studying Architecture at RMIT in the early 1980s, and learning about passive solar design. Pritchard says this house demonstrates that environmental sustainability is not about sacrifice, but about exceptional levels of occupant comfort, savings in running costs and modern fittings and appliances.1 The solar panels on the north roofs are intentionally obvious to make a statement about what the building is doing. But inside the systems are hidden and interactive with conventional services, such as the underground water tank. The house is water and energy self-sufficient and at 12 squares is much smaller than conventional houses, to minimise resources. Yet it accommodates his family of four with three bedrooms, a living/dining and kitchen area and a bathroom/laundry. Importantly the building is designed to last hundreds of years, by being able to be modified as the need arises, such as for commercial use. In this way the structure minimises its environmental impact. The solid double mud-brick walls (which are insulated) include steel beams and supporting frame, allowing the future removal or alteration of any section. The materials are local, recycled and of low toxicity where possible.2 Inside and out, the mud-brick is rendered and sealed with a combination of cement and sand and a mud-based coating in a soft golden hue increases its life. Inside, the golden-brown timber is plantation Mountain Ash and the concrete floors throughout – of local stone aggregate with a clear seal – have a natural looking random stone appearance. The house sustains a stable temperature of around 20 degrees, assisted by the concrete slab floor. The many large double-glazed windows and highlights (windows set high on walls) provide cross-flow ventilation. The north-facing living area maximises heating from the lower winter sun and is cooler in summer, because the sun is higher. Heating comes from a solar hydronic slab system. All appliances and fittings are high efficiency energy or water rated. Appliances in the timber kitchen include a gas stove and a dishwasher, using the building’s own power and water. French doors open from the living area to a deck, concealing the treatment system for all waste water. This is pumped through sub-soil drippers to the indigenous garden beds and no-dig vegetable patch. Below the carport is the 80,000-litre rainwater tank and at the back, the boiler room houses the solar boiler, water tank access, domestic water supply pump, filter gear and hydronic slab heating controls. The solar system is backed up with gas, which is needed to heat water only in winter. Gas used is less than one quarter of that for an average home with ducted heating. Excess power is fed back to the grid and the building uses about one quarter of the mains electricity of an average home. Other local builders have followed Pritchard’s lead in resource efficiency for minimal environmental impact.main road, eltham, businesses, llewellyn pritchard, hia greensmart building of the year award., efficiency housing award, conscious homes australia pty ltd

A slab construction cottage built in Ripplebrook in 1880 as a home for a single female landowner by the name of Ada Donaldson, and later relocated to Labertouche. It was donated to Old Gippstown by the Mason-Brook Pastoral Co. of Labertouche. A small building of horizontal timber slabs. It has a verandah over the front entrance and the front porch, a main living area with a cast iron stove in the fireplace and a separate room (probably a bedroom). There is a stone chimney on the back wall and the roof is shingled. Originally a cottage in its own right, the slab kitchen is now a part of the Bushy Park display.Medium local historic significance.A small building of horizontal timber slabs. It has a verandah over the front entrance and the front porch. There is a stone chimney on the back wall and the roof is shingled. This building was built in 1880sout kitchen, old gippstown, west gippsland, gippsland, gippsland heritage park, goldfields, coal mine, victorian era, moe, historical village, timber slab cottage, ripplebrook, labertouche, mason-brook pastoral co., baw baw shire, latrobe valley, old gippsland heritage park, gunaikurnai, latrobe city council

The late 19th to early 20th century stone cottage with weatherboard extensions. From research, it has been determined that the cottage was the Port Fairy (Belfast) Lighthouse Keepers cottage. The dome roof in the background indicates a lighthouse, in which case the cottage would have been the living quarters for a lighthouse keeper and assistant keeper. The narrow poles could have been for signals and antennae. The object on the rock stack looks like a large metal milk can.The photograph shows a typical late 19th to early 20th century cottage, abandoned at dilapidated for many years. Black and white rectangular photograph mounted on card. The image shows a dilapidated stone cottage with an old picket fence. Extending behind the stone cottage are gabled roofs above weatherboard walls. The cottage has corrugated roof sheets of different colours, and four chimneys, three with chimney pots. From research, it has been determined that the cottage was the Port Fairy (Belfast) Lighthouse Keepers cottage. Near the fenceline on the left, a corrugated water tank is positioned below a pipe joined to the roof gutter. Nearby are a timber shed and timber walls or screens. In the background are two tall narrow poles with spheres on top, higher than the cottage, with one pole on each side, the left one attached to the building. A domed roof with a knob on top is on the right behind trees. Several angular shapes appear on the horizon on the left, one almost hidden by the trees. The foreground is rocky and slopes uphill on the right. At the foot of the slope is a stack of closely fitted rocks with an object shaped like a milk can on top and an object to its left that is like an open grid. Handwritten Inscriptions are on the reverse side of the photograph.Pencil on board: " D9 / 200 x 150" Pen on sticker: "52"flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, cottage, lighthouse, iron roof, stone building, picket fence, water tank, weatherboard building, 19th century cottage, early 20th century cottage, abandoned cottage, antenna, chimneys, milk can